Stay With Me
by YasuJ
Summary: The continuation of Missing. Noah's been found and is safe, but now Luke's the one in danger. With his mother offering no help, will Noah be able to put the pieces together before it's too late to save the one he loves?
1. Killing Time

Disclaimer: I don't own… ah screw it…

A/N: I'm so sorry!! For taking so long… I apologize, and I hope I haven't lost my readers… College was just so hard… *sob* Ok now I know that some of the readers are going 'What the hell? I'm gonna kill that crazy –insert your word of choice here-' But the story wasn't going to flow if I put everything in one, trust me, I tried for like 4 days straight. I know what I'm doing! Most of the time… So anyway, I broke it up. It's the same story but with a shifted focus, which was why it's separated. Did you really think I'd leave it there? I'm not that cruel. Well, maybe… Thanking my reviewers from the last chapter of Missing! Onaqua, monchy08, ToraChibiChan, Katherine Cruz, Writer-N-Disguise, Unsolved, loveSoapDrama… phew! There's so many… well it has been months… now onward!!

Chapter 1

Killing Time

Noah missed Luke. It was a strange feeling. Until you experience it, you never really understand how you can miss a person who's right in front of you. But Noah missed Luke so much.

In his current disembodied state, he could watch him without interruption. Watch as every hair that fell out of place would be brushed away with irritation. Watch as Luke's nose wrinkled wheneverhe tried not to yawn. Watch as his back curled in whenever he stretched in his chair. He loved it and hated it.

It felt like he was trying to memorise him, and in a way, he was. Luke was going to die. Noah already had two days to be in shock, throw a fit (kind of hard when you can't touch anything), andyell and be depressed about it. But now it was just… Luke was going to die. So he watched him, looking for any sign of something wrong. He looked tired and sad, but healthy. And Charlene refused to tell him anything.

"No, Noah."

"Come on. You wouldn't tell me unless he was going to go before I woke up." She'd said as much before. "Charlene, I know he's not sick, so something's gonna hurt him, right? Is it an accident?"

"Noah," she replied from the window sill. His body had been moved to another room, one more spacious, but he wasn't stable enough to leave the Fairview hospital. Luke was staying in a hotel close by with Holden. Both were sitting in Noah's room now, Holden watching the television and Luke just sitting, absently fiddling with Noah's hospital bracelet. "That is privileged information. And you can't do anything about it anyway so leave it alone. And I really wish you'd call me mom."

"I'm sorry, but I can't just yet. It doesn't feel right. Just tell me ho…" Noah paused. Luke was getting up now.

"Dad, I gotta get…" a yawn cut short his statement. It looked so cute, like a little puppy. This wasn't fair! "I gotta get some coffee. I'm going to the café across the street. The stuff here tastes like sweat… and mud. I'll get you something." With that he was out the door.

* * *

Standing in line at the café was not helping to wake Luke up. Knowing Noah was alive and taken care of should have put his mind to rest. But no… if anything, it was working overtime now, and he was dead tired. Why? That damned question. _"Will you marry me?"_ Why couldn't he say yes? He wanted to say yes, but the circumstances… And now Noah was practically comatose and he couldn't even work up the nerve to open the box. Something about seeing the ring would make everything real, and he was afraid. It was with him, burning a hole in his pocket. He hadn't even told his father.

"Welcome to Mellow Moods, what can I get you?" Oh, he was at the counter. When did that happen? He had to stop spacing out like that, before he walked into a pole or something. He looked at menu board, sending silent thanks that it was in moderate English.

"I'll have a, uh… medi-no large non-fat mocha latte, please."

"Dark, white or milk chocolate?"

"Uh, dark."

"To stay or to go?" For some reason, that threw him for a loop. He should just say, 'go', wait for it and get back to the hospital. But he couldn't. What the hell was going on? He knew what was waiting for him there. Shit, it was the question all over again! No, he had to calm down. "Sir?"

"Sorry, I'll stay…" The counter-girl told him to take a seat. Maybe he should've taken the coffee and ran. The little coffee hut was actually pretty busy and there were only two spaces available. One was next to an elderly lady with glasses from 1955 who looked like she had a pink beehive on her head. While Luke wasn't one to judge by looks… Mind made up, he moved to a booth housing a slightly dishevelled young man with pitch black hair who was doodling in a notebook. "Hi. Can I sit here?"

The guy looked up surprised, and nodded. Luke slid into the booth with a small smile and the man went back to his drawing. Waiting for his coffee drink, Luke's eyes wandered about, coming to rest on the man's drawing. It was very good; he could tell what it was even upside down. "Nice Wasp."

"What?" He stopped and looked at Luke, his green eyes curiously guarded. Luke chuckled slightly.

"Your drawing," Luke pointed to the paper, "Wasp, Janet van Dyne, right?"

"Oh, yeah," he smiled. "You know th-the Avengers?" At that moment, the waitress brought Luke's latte over and made to go, but not before giving the other man a sort of disgusted look. 'What was that about?' Luke wondered, but it wasn't his business. The man seemed to shrink back into himself after she left. Luke quietly sipped at his drink, conversation lost until the man spoke again. "Don't you wanna ask about that?"

Luke shrugged. "Not really. It's not my place, and I can't base any opinion I have of you on how others act." He'd learned that the hard way when he came out. Persons who he knew for most of his life suddenly wanted nothing to do with him. And he found better friends in those he wouldn't have ever noticed before. "Besides, you seem alright so far." The man eyes brightened more than they had when Luke mentioned the comic book and he stuck out his hand.

"Thanks. I'm Sh-shawn by the way." Luke shook the proffered hand.

"I'm Luke. Now," he tapped the book. "Avengers…"

* * *

"Is it… is it today? That's why you're not telling me, right? It's today?" Noah was freaking out at the thought. Charlene was just smiling at him. Did she think his head exploding was funny? Because it wasn't.

"Take it easy, kiddo." Charlene took his face between her hands softly. "You've been asking ever since you found out and you're going to give yourself a heart attack. It's not today!" She added quickly seeing that he was about to yell. A sigh escaped. "I was trying to protect you. If you must know, it's the day you wake up." That didn't make him feel better at all. Knowing that if he woke up one or two days earlier, he might get a chance to talk to Luke…

"Can you at least tell me how he…?"

"I'm sorry. Now, no more questions. I want to hear more about you growing up. We were at… you were a 'freshman at high school in Georgia'…" Noah had to give her credit. She could pull off a mother's no-nonsense voice perfectly.

Taking a breath he didn't need, he began, "Winston got transferred to California in the middle of the second semester…"

* * *

Luke glanced at his watch, shifting his weight from one foot to the next in the hospital elevator. Shawn proved to be an interesting person and he knew his comics**,** maybe better than Luke did. While it had been nice talking to someone who didn't know who he was, or what he was going through, hewanted to get back to his Noah. Just in case. But Shawn made Luke promise to come back tomorrow and Luke wasn't entirely opposed to the idea. The elevator came to a stop and Luke got off, taking a few steps down the hallway.

"Look out!" Luke didn't have time to move as something barrelled into him, knocking him off his feet and sending the coffee had gotten for his father, flying. He lay on the cold tile floor, watching the florescent lights in a daze until a nurse came and helped him sit up.

"You know…" A boy, no older than five or six, stood before them in hospital scrubs. He had a tie-dyed bandana covering his head and a large bandage housing two closed IV ports on his wrist. There was a large smirk on his face as he spoke, "You gotta watch where you're going. I coulda hurt you."

"Jesse," The nurse chided, helping Luke to stand. She seemed familiar. "What have I told you about running?"

Pretending to think for a moment, Jesse answered, "To not do it?"

"Exactly." She turned to Luke, who was looking forlornly at the spilled coffee. "I'm sorry, Sir. He didn't mean anything by it and he's very sorry, aren't you Jesse?"

Jesse turned and stared into Luke's eyes, searching for something. They were a bit unnerving, those piercing grey irises. "My mommy says to say sorry only when you really feel bad about doing something. I don't feel sorry for hitting you."

"Jesse!"

"I don't! It's the truth. He should pay more attention."

"It's ok, Miss." Luke spoke for the first time. "No harm done. He's only saying what he thinks." He bent down to Jesse's level. "Hey, my name is Luke. I'm sorry for holding you up. Forgive me?" Luke put out his fist and Jesse bumped it, grinning. "I'll see you around, Jesse." Rising, he began to walk down the hall again.

"You're on the wrong floor, y'know." Luke stopped, glanced at Jesse and took a look around. 'He's right…' He turned to Jesse in confusion.

"How did you…?" Jesse pointed to the ceiling.

"He's waiting for you up there. But not for long…" With that he took off running again, the nurse not far behind. Luke was left standing in shock.

* * *

"Hey, I thought you'd bring something for me?" Holden asked from across the room. All conversation between the spectres stopped when Luke entered. Luke didn't respond; he simply walked over to the chair. Noah could see that something had upset Luke, and he moved to stand beside him as he sat down. He wanted to comfort him, hold his hand, do something! But instead he was this useless lump on the mattress. It was very frustrating.

Jesse's words were ringing in Luke's ears. 'But not for long…' He couldn't understand it. In four words, a child managed to express all of his greatest fears. He felt like such a coward. 'What a weird morning…' He ran a hand down his face tiredly.

"You okay, Luke?" Holden asked again. He didn't like when Luke was quiet. It usually heralded some insane act of rescue, but Luke only raised his hand to gently caress Noah's cheek. The backs of his fingers barely touched Noah, making the spirit shiver. "Luke, what's wrong?"

"Everything, Dad. Everything…"

* * *

A/N YasuJ: First chapter complete. Beep… Beep… Second chapter processing…

Luke: Um… *looks at Noah*

Noah:* looks at Luke* Well, I don't know!

Luke: Uh… Read and review… please? *looks at Yasu* …hurry?

* * *


	2. End of Hearts

Disclaimer: It's not mine, nothing is mine, except the computer I type this on.

A/N: You know, I really never imagined that so many people would want me to continue this… I don't even know what to say. So I won't say anything. xD Thanks to my reviewers:

From Chapter 1: ForeverBossy26, ToraChibiChan, Onaqua, Mika vamp girl

From Missing: PyroFirePower, Mika vamp girl, justWHOamI

And I cannot believe I forgot to do this in the first chapter, so double double thanks to my beta readers, Forbidden Romance and ToraChibiChan! xDD *cough* Forward March!

Chapter 2

End of Hearts

It was about 4 in the afternoon when Luke saw Jesse again. Holden had gone out to get something for dinner, or so he said. Something about refusing to experience the glorified cardboard that was hospital food again. Personally, Luke thought the sterile smell was getting to him. But even so, it left Luke alone with Noah and his thoughts. Such lovely thoughts they were.

Yeah, right. He'd give anything to go back and stop all this from happening. To stop Noah from getting into his stupid truck and driving 200 stupid miles… A knock on the door pleasantly distracted him. Thinking it was a nurse or his father, he muttered "Come in" without turning to look.

"Hi, Luke!" A genuine smile crossed Luke's lips as he twisted in the chair. There was Jesse, standing in the doorway with the nurse from before. His clothes were different; a plain white t-shirt and loose jeans instead of the scrubs but the bandana was still in place. The spirit Noah, who was sitting on the floor near to Luke's feet, was curious about the grey eyed boy bouncing his way into the room.

"Hey, it's the track star," Luke replied, still smiling as the energetic boy came to stand beside him. "How'd you find me, Jesse?"

Jesse shrugged, gazing at the Noah lying on the bed. "I come up here to visit my mommy every, every day, all the time," He repeated then looked at the nurse, "Right, Lisa?" Luke blinked for a moment. He'd thought that the nurse was Jesse's mother. Apparently he was mistaken.

"I'm Jesse's cousin, Lisa," the nurse answered to Luke's unspoken question. "It's nice to see you again."

Ah, Luke remembered her now. This was the redhead from the O.R. He nodded. "It's nice to see you, too."

"Who's he?" The boy asked, pointing to Noah and Luke's smile faltered a bit.

"Jesse this," Luke placed his hand over Noah's, "This is Noah. He's… very special to me." Noah smiled, his hand tingling from Luke's touch.

"Is he your boyfriend?" There was a pregnant pause as Jesse waited for an answer and Luke tried to cultivate one. Finally Lisa, feeling uncomfortable, bent down to speak to Jesse quietly.

"Jesse, you can't go around saying those things. People can get offended."

"It's alright," Luke said quickly, "Really. It just caught me off guard. Jesse…" Luke swallowed, the words stuck caught in his throat for some reason, "Yes, Noah is my boyfriend. And I love him, very much." Jesse inquired as to what happened to him. "He was in an accident, and" Luke took a breath and rubbed his thumb over Noah's wrist, "he got hurt, really bad."

"I ruined everything for you, Luke," Noah said softly. It was supposed to have been a day for celebration, Luke's day, and he'd decimated it. And now Luke was going to die before he got a chance to apologize. "You don't know how sorry I am."

Jesse looked at Noah, then at Luke, then past Luke to the floor. Wait… he wasn't looking at the floor… was he looking at…? Noah stood, slowly backing away from Luke and crossing to the other side of the bed. Jesse's eyes followed his movements, tracking him. They stared at each other for a while, until Jesse turned to Luke and asked, "How come Noah's so sad?"

"What?" Luke must have misheard him. "What did you say?"

"Noah," Jesse said slowly, "he's really sad about something. Something he did wrong. Something he can't fix." Taken aback, Luke and Noah's jaws dropped, both awed by the small child.

Luke recovered first, questions rapidly forming. "Jesse, what are you-"

"Hey, you wanna see my mom?"

"Uh…" Luke's eyes widened, momentarily forgetting everything he wanted to ask. He nodded dumbly as Jesse took his hand and dragged him from the room. Charlene chose that particular moment to appear from, well, wherever she went.

"Where were you?" Noah asked, anxious to tell her. She opened her mouth to explain but Noah couldn't wait. "Never mind. There was this kid, this boy. I think he could see me. This me!" He was pointing to himself excitedly. "He told Luke…" Noah had a sudden revelation. _Something he can't fix…_ Who said he couldn't try?

"What did he tell Luke?"

Noah waved her question away, "It doesn't matter. Mom, I want to switch places with Luke."

* * *

Sarah Winters was a beautiful woman. Curls of chestnut gently framed her oval face, long lashes coming to rest on pale cheeks. She reminded Luke of the fairytale 'Sleeping Beauty', trapped in sleep, ageless through time. For she was trapped in a persistent vegetative state, according to Lisa, due to a bad reaction to medication she was taking for some kind of chronic leukaemia. The same cancer that Jesse was now fighting. Honestly, the whole thing went over Luke's head. He was a bit preoccupied with Jesse conversing with his mother.

"…so then the cup went whizzing through the air like in slow motion… just like in the movies. I was okay, but Luke went down… He's fine, aren't you Luke?"

Luke's head bobbed up and down shortly, and Jesse returned to his story. Not missing a beat, Luke, who was standing at the foot of the bed, turned to Lisa, burning to know something, "Is this normal? I mean, not trying to be rude but does he do this a lot?"

Lisa gave a half smile and shook her head. "Jesse's been like this since he could talk, straightforward and honest. I don't think he knows how to filter what he says, and if he does know, he won't do it."

"Did you know Luke has a boyfriend named Noah?" Jesse chatted on, oblivious to Lisa's words. "He's just down the hall…"

"I believe he has a gift." When Luke raised an eyebrow, she shrugged. "I'm not sure what it is, but if he tells you something, it's the truth. Jesse doesn't lie. If he says Aunt Sarah can talk to him, I believe it."

"How? It's so farfetched, and what he said about Noah-"

"He can hear you, y'know?" Jesse said without turning, but Luke felt it was directed to him.

"What was that?"

Jesse moved then, bringing his legs up to sit Indian style on the chair "Noah. He can hear you when you talk to him. He's not dead, so don't treat him like it."

Although he shouldn't have been surprised, he couldn't help staring at Jesse again. "Why are you saying this?"

"'Cause you may think you have all the time in the world but you don't. If you need to tell him something, do it now, before…"

Where was this coming from? What did he mean? "Before what?" Eyes, now molten silver bore through him, seeing something Luke could not.

"Before you can't."

* * *

Charlene's eyes widened as she stumbled over her words. "Noah, what? I… Hey, you called me mom!"

"Don't change the subject. Do your "ferry" deal and switch Luke and me. I'm already half-dead…" Noah narrowed his eyes in suspicion, "You told me that souls are sometimes exchanged, or was that a lie to make me feel better?"

"It wasn't a lie, but it's… complicated. Come sit here," she patted the space beside her on the window. Noah did so and Charlene paused for a moment, thinking. "Noah, when a soul is made, it contains tiny, infinitesimal parts to it. Each is significant, holding some minute detail about you, the way you look, act, even think. Your characteristics, all right there. There is one other person in the world that you could switch places with. The person you're meant for. Can you guess?"

"M-my soul mate?" A nod showed Noah his answer was correct and Charlene continued.

"A soul mate doesn't match your soul exactly; parts are the same, parts are similar, and parts are polar opposites. Soul mates compliment each other. At times, they may seem very different, or come from different worlds. Soul mates may even be on unfriendly terms in some cases. The surge of emotion that wants to push them together is usually interpreted wrong, and a few soul mates have killed their significant other or driven an immovable wedge between the two. It's sad."

A lump formed in Noah's throat as he tried to imagine his life if he'd never met Luke and remained under the Colonel's influence. He could see it all; joining the army, going to Iraq, becoming so crazed that he'd kill his wife. Yes, wife because there was no way in hell Noah was going to be out. With Winston around, any boyfriend he'd had would've died. Like Luke almost did. Like Luke will… "So…"

"I'm sorry, Noah, but your soul cannot be switched with Luke's."

"Mom, please can't you do something?" It hurt somewhere deep inside Noah to know that he wasn't Luke's soul mate. He was sure Charlene would've told him. While dying wasn't on his to-do list, he was going to try everything he could to save Luke.

"No, I can't. There are over six billion souls in the world, Noah. What are the chances of finding that one in less than five days? That said, Luke's soul mate might not even be alive. And if he is, you'd be killing him. Once a switch is made, there's no going back. That soul's slot must be filled by a certain time or both souls are taken."

"But why?"

"Ugh," Charlene raised a hand to her forehead dramatically, "My son, you tire me!" That got a smile out of Noah and she grinned in response. "Please, hold the inquiries until another time. Dusk approaches… and I gotta job to do." She waved goodbye and disappeared just as the door opened.

* * *

A heavy weight had settled over Luke after Jesse spoke, adding to the burden already there. He'd left the room in a rush, almost knocking over a young janitor. Waving a 'Sorry!' to the dark-haired man without looking properly, he continued moving. Stopping just outside Noah's room, he proceeded to pace frantically, pulling at his hair, trying to figure out what he was supposed to do, what he was supposed to say. Heat radiated from his right thigh and he knew. Breathing deeply, he placed a shaking hand on the knob and entered.

An eternity passed, maybe more as Luke watched his Noah, still on the bed deep in deathlike trance. But he wasn't dead, at least according to Jesse he wasn't… "Noah," fell out of his lips before he knew it, gaining the spirit's attention. Counting the steps necessary, Luke went over, sat in his chair and promptly forgot everything he'd been planning to say.

"Noah I," he took Noah's hand, sandwiching it between his own. "I don't know if you can hear this or not but… I gotta get this out. It's tearing me apart. I don't even… When you asked me to marry you, I wasn't… I wasn't rejecting you."

"You weren't?" The spirit asked, failing to remember that Luke couldn't hear him.

"Please understand. I'd been having these weird feelings for days, ever since you… And I just, it wasn't right. I couldn't do anything, my parents… you know, they put drugs in my food, to help me sleep?" Noah couldn't believe that Holden and Lily would do that. Luke must have been in a state.

"I-I was so worried, I couldn't sleep, I-I couldn't eat, I just…" Normally, Luke was more articulate than this, not that it wasn't awkward talking to Noah. "And then, when you answered the phone… It was the greatest feeling." For a brief moment, a smile of remembrance alighted Luke's face. "Just to hear your voice, to know that you were okay…" Then it fell away, to be replaced by the saddest of expressions. Noah wanted that beautiful smile back. "But you weren't… you weren't okay."

"Luke…"

"You were hurt. And I kept trying to call you a-and you wouldn't pick up…" Luke seemed to fight the memory as several emotions flickered across his face. All the while, Noah's heart was tearing in two for his love. "You wouldn't pick up… and then in the car, something hit me and the next thing I know I'm jumping out of the moving car like a mad man and running into the trees."

"You didn't jump out of the car, really?"

"It was you again and I knew I had to find you… and then we did and… Noah I thought you were dead." Noah started. He hadn't known it was that bad. At the time, he was too busy trying to stay awake. "There was so much blood and I thought… that I was too late and that I wouldn't get a chance to… to ever talk to you again… to say goodbye…" Luke's eyes shone with unshed tears, but he kept going.

"Then it all started to happen so fast! You were alive… and you wanted me to marry you… and I felt so happy that you weren't dead and so guilty for not trusting you and so scared that this was it for us that I just… I couldn't think! And then you were choking a-and you stopped breathing an-" his breath caught as he held back a sob, hand gripping at the fabric over his own chest. Damn it, he wasn't finished yet!

Noah's eyes burned as he listened to the pain within his lover. "I didn't know, Luke. I couldn't know…" The ventilator hissed softly in the quiet as Luke calmed himself. When he spoke next, it was in solemn whisper.

"It hurt. It hurt so much. I couldn't take it. I know now that if you had died that day, I would've followed you."

"No, Luke!" Noah protested, futilely grabbing for Luke's shoulder. "Do you know how hard I'm working to protect you right now? To keep you alive? Don't say things like that..."

Luke smiled again, this time a bitter thing to watch. Noah wanted it to go away. "I'd follow you anywhere, y'know? And now you're here and I'm talking to you and you'll probably never hear it but… What I'm trying to say is… I'm so sorry, Noah." Sorry? Why was he sorry? "You went so far just to buy me a gift. To ask me a question that I couldn't answer until you weren't able to hear it. You must hate me…"

"Luke, I could never…"

"I haven't even opened it yet." Luke chuckled self-depreciatively. "Yeah, not such a brave Snyder right now, am I? I need you Noah. I need you with me; I need you to give me the strength…"

More than anything, Noah wished at this moment that Luke could see that he wasn't alone. "I'm here! Please know," he placed his hand over Luke's, "I'm right here. It's okay to be afraid, I'm with you."

Luke gasped as he felt a comforting warmth flow through his body. He let go of Noah and dug a hand into his pocket, coming up with the pale box. With trepidation, he opened it and was awed. "Oh, Noah it's beautiful," he breathed.

Sitting in the blue velvet lining was elegant band of silver. No not silver; white gold, set with a row of gems that didn't look a bit like cubic zirconium! (Hey, he wasn't Lucinda Walsh's grandson for nothing…) Luke lifted it carefully, as though it would break if touched coarsely. This had to cost a fortune. "Noah, where did get the money for this? This is just… unbelievable."

Noah beamed. He'd finally done something right. "Look inside the band. I wrote something for you."

Turning the ring over in his palm, Luke noticed a mark on the inner band. "What's this?" He held it up to the light, reading aloud, "Luciano," A smile. Only Noah could… "My love, my heart, Always…" And Luke succumbed to tears again. "Oh God… Noah, wake up. You need to know… I need to tell you… Please…"

Noah hadn't meant to make him cry, not like that. "Luke, no. I heard you, please don't cry. It's okay," he tried, but the moment was lost. Luke was lost to him.

A/N: YasuJ: boop boop be-doop. Tada!  
Luke and Noah: *shrug* We gave up last chapter.  
YasuJ: Aww, you boys are no fun. We must have Ultimate Dance Party! Come! *drags Luke away*  
Luke: But I can't dance!  
YasuJ: You're better than college monkey arm pump over there! Oh… R&R Ja ne!


End file.
